assimilate
[verb uh-sim-uh-leyt; noun uh-sim-uh-lit, -leyt]
- to take in and incorporate as one's own; absorb: He assimilated many new experiences on his European trip.
- to bring into conformity with the customs, attitudes, etc., of a group, nation, or the like; adapt or adjust: to assimilate the new immigrants.
- Physiology. to convert (food) to substances suitable for incorporation into the body and its tissues.
- to cause to resemble (usually followed by to or with).
- to compare; liken (usually followed by to or with).
- Phonetics. to modify by assimilation.
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- to be or become absorbed.
- to conform or adjust to the customs, attitudes, etc., of a group, nation, or the like: The new arrivals assimilated easily and quickly.
- Physiology. (of food) to be converted into the substance of the body; be absorbed into the system.
- to bear a resemblance (usually followed by to or with).
- Phonetics. to become modified by assimilation.
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- something that is assimilated.
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Origin of assimilate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
graspincorporateunderstandcomprehendaccommodateadapthomogenizesensedigestingestlearnconformminglefitaccustomacculturateacclimatizeintermixstandardizeparallelExamples from the Web for assimilating
Contemporary Examples
Despite the 21 years I did in prison for a drug conviction, I am assimilating back into mainstream or, dare I say, white America.
There are no easy solutions to assimilating refugees into a solid culture.
Historical Examples
Or, as conventional as ever, our own method is the scientific method of assimilating.
The Book of the DamnedCharles Fort
He turned to the lake and consumed five minutes in assimilating her remark.
A Woman's WillAnne Warner
Capacity for assimilating the public taste and reproducing it, is the commonest.
Diana of the Crossways, CompleteGeorge Meredith
After a time they increase in size by assimilating the hmoglobin.
We are endowed by nature with capacities for assimilating speech.
The Principles of Language-StudyHarold E. Palmer
assimilate
- (tr) to learn (information, a procedure, etc) and understand it thoroughly
- (tr) to absorb (food) and incorporate it into the body tissues
- (intr) to become absorbed, incorporated, or learned and understood
- (usually foll by into or with) to bring or come into harmony; adjust or become adjustedthe new immigrants assimilated easily
- (usually foll by to or with) to become or cause to become similar
- (usually foll by to) phonetics to change (a consonant) or (of a consonant) to be changed into another under the influence of one adjacent to it(n) often assimilates to ŋ before (k), as in ``include''
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin assimilāre to make one thing like another, from similis like, similar
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for assimilating
assimilate
v.
early 15c., from Latin assimilatus "feigned, pretended, fictitious," past participle of assimilare "to make like," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + simulare "make similar," from similis "like, resembling" (see similar). Originally transitive (with to); intransitive use first recorded 1837. Related: Assimilated; assimilating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
assimilate
(ə-sĭm′ə-lāt′)- To consume and incorporate nutrients into the body after digestion.
- To transform food into living tissue by the process of anabolism.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.